The Memphis Grizzlies held their annual open practice Monday afternoon at FedExForum. Fans filled one side of the lower bowl between the baselines and were treated to a conversation between myself and head coach Dave Jorger that touched on subjects from training camp to the addition of Jeff Bzdelik to the coaching staff to the new technologies that are being applied to the Grizzlies’ monitoring of player performance.
Once the players had properly warmed up and our conversation finished, the Grizzlies showed off their usual start of practice and stretching routine. After running a layup line to get loose, the Grizzlies did some three-man full-court weaves and then settled into 5 on 0 run throughs of their most basic sets installed during camp in San Diego. In-arena host Joey Thorsen and I chatted about the importance of committing these sets to mind and muscle memory.
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The highlight of the afternoon (other than Vince Carter gleefully launching t-shirts into the audience) was a three-point shootout with eight of the 20 players currently on the roster participating. The shootout was played according to the rules of the 3-point contest during All Star Weekend: five shots from five spots with the last ball at each spot counting double.
Courtney Lee and Vince Carter finished as the top 2 shooters in the preliminary round, although Marc Gasol made a decent run at the finals. When Lee and Carter finished tied in their finals shootout, Joerger declared that the winner would be the one to first make a half court shot. Carter went first and his effort was on line, but failed to fall. In his first attempt, Lee calmly swished a 47-footer for the win.
After about an hour on the floor, the team exited by assisting the Claw Crew with airborne t-shirt distribution and headed to the practice facility to put the finishing touches on their Monday workout.
The Grizzlies host the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at 7 pm in their first home pre-season game and third overall after games in Green Bay (against the Bucks) and in Houston.